iPad

Apple has already launched quite a few new products in the past weeks despite the ongoing chaos that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought on the world. That, however, is just the beginning, which is fitting considering we're barely halfway through 2020. Apple still has some new products planned for later that go beyond the expected iPhone 12 and MacBooks. It turns out, it might have quite a lot in store, including ones we may not have heard before.

A series of videos featuring Apple's newly launched Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro have surfaced on YouTube. The hands-on videos show multiple aspects of the new keyboard accessory, including the sturdiness of its hinge, its trackpad, how the settings work on the iPad, and more. The videos come ahead of the shipment of the Magic Keyboard to customers who have preordered it.

Apple quietly added a new privacy feature to the latest iPad Pro, borrowing a MacBook security feature to help prevent eavesdropping on its 2020 tablets. With the launch of the 2018 MacBook range and the introduction of the Apple T2 security chip, closing the lid of the notebooks automatically disconnects the hardware microphones.

The latest update to iPhone and iPad devices seems to have broken a crucial component of the video chat system FaceTime. Reports have shown the update to iOS 13.4 for iPhone and iPad caused an issue with FaceTime audio and video calls. The bit that doesn't work seems to be the connection between these newly-updated devices and those still running iOS 9.3.5 or iOS 9.3.6 - the newest software some older devices can get.

At last, track pad for the iPad. For many of us, it would seem like the final step to having a lightweight and ultra-convenient tablet replace a bulky laptop. After all, the iPad Pro has always boasted laptop-beating specs, especially at the price. And few screens match the color-accuracy and gorgeous fluidity of its screen. Having one of the best smart pens in the business sure helps too.

Apple has released iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4, adding features like iCloud Drive folder sharing as well as mouse and trackpad support for the iPad. In addition to bug fixes for many of Apple's own apps, there's also the introduction of universal app purchases across macOS and iOS, something developers have long hoped for from Apple.

Against all odds, Apple launched two new iPad Pros this week, though the expected iPhone SE 2 or iPhone 8 and its larger sibling remain absent. That may give a feeling that everything is OK in Apple land, at least until people try to buy these and other Apple products from the company's online store. For now, buyers are being limited in the number of iPhones and iPads they can buy under a single name, one of the first visible signs of the COVID-19 coronavirus' effects in the industry.

The gap between the iPad Pro and the MacBook only gets smaller, and now I suspect it's time for Apple's tablet to get bigger. The arrival this week of the new 2020 iPad Pro, complete with LiDAR Scanner camera and fancy new Magic Keyboard cover, saw Apple take a huge step with the addition of mouse and trackpad support, and an on-screen cursor.

Apple aren't the only ones with a new iPad keyboard today, with Logitech unveiling a trackpad-toting keyboard case for the iPadOS tablet. Unlike the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, though, the new Logitech Combo Touch is intended for Apple's more affordable tablets too, though it'll only really come into its own when iPadOS 13.4 drops later in the year.

Apple's trackpad support isn't just limited to the new 2020 iPad Pro and its Magic Keyboard cover. Though the new tablet and accessory were announced today with the addition of trackpad functionality, they'll actually be features of iPadOS 13.4, Apple has confirmed. That's good news for existing iPad owners - and they won't have to wait until iOS 14.

Apple has announced a new iPad Pro, adding a Magic Keyboard cover with trackpad, upgrading the processor, and building in a LiDAR Scanner camera for augmented reality. The new iPad Pro looks much the same as its predecessor from the front, but flip it over and there's a square camera cluster much like that of the iPhone 11 Pro on the rear.

Four unannounced iPad Pro models have prematurely leaked, listings for the quartet of iPadOS tablets apparently being added to Apple's site before hurriedly being removed. Apple has been widely predicted to launch new iPad Pro models in the first half of 2020, complete with features like an iPhone 11 Pro-style triple camera array on the rear.